Fractured Souls by Ava Marie Salinger

29

“He knew you?”Strickland said, shocked.

Cassius nodded, his expression troubled.

Morgan stared at the angel where they sat opposite one another, as surprised as everyone else in the room.

They were in a conference chamber, back at the Argonaut bureau. Lucy had grudgingly signed their release forms from the hospital an hour ago, but not until she’d spent a good few minutes giving Strickland and the other bureau directors a piece of her mind about how Morgan and his team needed a good night’s rest and not a goddamn interrogation.

A dull roar reached them from the bullpen down the corridor.

The incident at Occulta meant dozens of magic users and humans had showed up in the hours that followed the battle to report what had happened to them. More agents had been called in from home to help take down statements and join the multi-agency investigation team on site.

Julia leaned against the door of the conference chamber to Morgan’s right, Zach and Bailey framing the wall on either side of her. Adrianne stood behind Cassius, her posture equally watchful as she studied the three bureau directors sitting with Strickland at the head of the room. Only Charlie was missing, the enchanter having been discharged home with strict instructions to rest for the next couple of days.

Reuben drummed a hand on the table. “What did this warlock say exactly?”

“That I deserve to die for what I did.” Cassius hesitated. “I don’t believe the attack tonight was planned. He was far too angry and out of control. I think he reacted out of rage when he realized I was at the bar.”

Understanding dawned on Julia’s face. “That would explain a few things. How we only felt that dark energy after the demon who picked a fight with you shouted your name across the room.”

“I agree,” Morgan said. “I doubt Occulta was the setting for the next sacrificial ritual.” He clenched his jaw, recalling the warlock’s furious actions in the alleyway and the eerie bloodlust underscoring his attacks on Cassius. “Do you have any idea what he was talking about?”

Cassius shook his head. “None.”

Jasper scowled at Strickland. “Victor was right. You should have told us what was going on weeks ago, Francis!”

Strickland sighed. “I realize that now. And I am truly sorry. It was presumptuous of me to assume Argonaut could deal with this case on our own.”

Though Strickland’s words smarted, Morgan had to grudgingly agree. They needed everyone in on this, especially now that their enemy had revealed the extent of their black-magic powers.

“What’s done is done,” Reuben said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “If your suspicions are correct, then this warlock and his companions are intending to use human souls to tear the Nether open. We cannot let that happen.” A muscle twitched in the angel’s jawline. “Another Fall would be disastrous for this world.”

A despondent silence fell across the room.

“What if this isn’t just about tearing the Nether open and causing a second Fall?” Cassius said quietly.

This earned him a frown from Strickland and the other directors.

“The only instance we know of black-magic users stealing human souls is Tania and her acolytes,” Strickland said. “We all arrived at the same conclusion when we examined their hideout. That they needed the power of fractured souls to do something nothing else on Earth could do. And that was to breach the Nether.”

Cassius grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck. “I know that’s what we all believed at the time. And I still think this concerns the Nether. But I don’t think it’s their final goal.”

“There are some things we still can’t explain,” Morgan added. “Why they targeted Joyce Almeda, for instance.”

“Is she the woman who was killed close to the park where you revealed your Empyreal form?” Brianna asked Cassius.

“Yes. She hired me the day before to find her cat.”

Jasper sneered. “You’ve sunk so low as to hunt down cats for humans?”

“It’s better than doing your agencies’ dirty work,” Cassius said levelly.

The demon bristled at that. Reuben and Brianna frowned.

“Maybe your client was their next intended victim,” Strickland suggested.

Morgan shook his head. “Her murder doesn’t match their modus operandi. All the other victims were snatched outside their homes and vanished without any evidence of a struggle, only for their remains to be discovered a week or so later, at the site of a sacrificial ritual.”

“The sorcerer we captured in Mission District was after something else,” Cassius added. “Something he thought Joyce Almeda had in her possession.”

Adrianne frowned. “But we didn’t find anything at her property or in her past to indicate a connection to magic users.”

Brianna studied Cassius with a calculating expression. “What do you think their purpose is? You said you believe this concerns the Nether. Why else would they want to open it, if not to cause a Fall?”

Cassius’s face grew distant. “There are many things we don’t remember about the Fall or the Nether. Why the tear happened. How it happened. But one thing we do know about the Nether. It’s a portal in itself.”

Reuben narrowed his eyes. “Are you suggesting they want to use the Nether as a doorway?”

Cassius shrugged. “Possibly. It’s just an idea.”

“A doorway to where?” Julia said guardedly.

“My best guess? One of the Nine Hells.” Cassius paused. “There are plenty of objects of power in those dimensions.”

“Objects of power?” Adrianne said, puzzled.

“Weapons.” Morgan frowned. “Divine and demonic artifacts left over from the various wars between Heaven and the Hells.”

“What?!” Adrianne gasped. “And they’re just lying around the place, like dirty laundry?!”

Zach sighed. “Your impression of the Hells is kinda inaccurate.”

A knock came at the door.

“It’s Maggie,” a voice said outside.

“Let her in,” Morgan said.

Julia opened the door. Maggie came in, a laptop in hand. She glanced at Strickland and the other bureau directors with a neutral expression, before focusing on Morgan.

“I have the video recordings from Occulta and that liquor store you wanted me to check out.”

“Thanks, Maggie.” Morgan grimaced. “And I’m sorry about the late hour.”

Maggie shrugged and plugged the computer into the monitor on the wall. “I was up anyway.” A faint smile stretched her mouth as she glanced at Cassius. “Looks like Lucy and I missed all the fun.”

Cassius sighed. “I wouldn’t exactly call what happened fun.”

They watched the videos from Occulta first, the camera feeds arranged in neat rows across the screen showing the main entrance, back doors, and every level of the bar from several angles. No one spotted the cloaked figure of the warlock entering the building at any point.

Brianna leaned forward when Suzie manifested her powers and created a defensive spell to combat the effect of the warlock’s dark magic.

“Interesting.” The witch glanced at Strickland. “Her magic closely resembles that of her mother.”

Tension filled the room when Cassius changed into his Empyreal form and went after the warlock, the video breaking up with static under the influence of his powers. Most of the battle in the back alley was missing, the spells used by both sides having destroyed Suzie’s cameras or interfered with the recordings.

“Let’s watch the one from the liquor store,” Morgan said.

Maggie switched folders and brought up the feed from the camera located above the front door of the shop opposite Occulta. It gave them an angled perspective of the opening of the alley and had captured a partial view of the battle. Only Cassius and the warlock appeared in the frames.

“Mother of God,” Reuben muttered when the war demons emerged from the portal. The angel had paled slightly. He glanced at Cassius. “You killed all those war demons by yourself?!”

“Keep watching,” Morgan said in a hard voice.

Cassius’s eyes widened with surprise when the armored angel he’d transformed into appeared amidst a storm of light. He straightened in his chair, his knuckles whitening on the armrests before he cast a questioning look at Morgan.

“That’s really you,” Morgan confirmed quietly.

Strickland leveled a stunned stare at Cassius. “You had another form?”

Brianna exchanged surprised glances with Reuben and Jasper. “You mean that’s not what he looked like in London?”

“No.” Strickland shook his head dazedly and sat back in his chair. “He only took on his Empyreal appearance then. He didn’t have that armor and his hair didn’t change color.”

Remorse darkened Cassius’s face as he watched Morgan lower him to the ground and grab the spear of darkness impaling his body. Strickland and the three directors studied what happened next unblinkingly.

“That’s the same black wind you manifested earlier, at the hospital,” Brianna said thoughtfully.

Jasper touched his throat with a grimace. The demon’s bruises were already fading.

“What is that black wind?” Suspicion darkened Reuben’s eyes. “I’ve never seen an Aerial display that kind of power.”

“I don’t know.” Morgan hesitated, wondering if he would come to regret his next words. “But it appeared after my soul core connected with Cassius’s again.”

Palpable shock reverberated around the room.

“Your soul cores connected?” Strickland mumbled.

“Again?!” Adrianne squeaked.

Julia and Zach traded troubled glances.

Morgan looked at Cassius and registered the silent permission in the gray depths opposite him. He took a shallow breath, conscious he was about to reveal something he would have preferred to keep between himself and the Empyreal. Alas, circumstances dictated that they make everyone else aware of the truth.

Besides, they might be able to help us figure out what this new power is.

“I think Cassius and I knew each other before the Fall,” Morgan said quietly.

“He’s right,” Cassius said. “I’ve felt this too.”

“There’s more,” Morgan said. “The final form he took in that video is one I’ve seen in my dreams almost every night since I came to Earth.”

“What?!” Cassius gasped.

Reuben stared at Morgan in disbelief. “You dream of the Fall?!”

“Yes.” Morgan rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Although they are more nightmares than dreams.” He met Cassius’s unblinking gaze. “I always see the same thing. A fair angel with shimmering, white wings and pale armor covered in blood and ash, holding a blade wrapped in Heaven’s Light. His face is always obscured. All I know is that we fell to Earth together.”

“But—I was on my own when I came to!” Cassius said.

“As was I.” Morgan observed the dubious looks aimed at him. “Our soul cores have resonated several times since we met a couple of days ago. Tonight’s was the strongest connection yet.” He faltered. “I’m pretty sure that’s what awoke this new power.”

Morgan fisted a hand and concentrated. Warmth flared in his belly and filled his veins. A shiver of black wind burst into life around his fingers.

“Wait.” Julia frowned, unease darkening her eyes as she studied the phenomenon. “Are you saying this is a power you’ve always possessed?”

Morgan dipped his chin. “That’s what it feels like. It’s as if my body remembers how to channel it.”

Tense silence followed.

“There’s also the name Cassius addressed you by during that battle,” Zach said slowly. “Like he knew who you were too, in your past lives.”

“What name?” Strickland said, confused.

“Ivmir.” Morgan gazed calmly at the angel opposite him. “Cassius called me Ivmir when he was in his armored form.”